Dust deflector



1956 w. E. LENHART, JR., ET AL 2,730,333

DUST DEFLECTOR Filed March 16, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. WILLIAM E. LENHART ATTORNEYS 1956 w. E. LENHART, JR., ET AL 2,730,333

DUST DEFLECTOR 2 Sheets-Shem 2 Filed March 16, 1953 FlG.3.

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM E. LENHART Jr.

8\ LONNIE K. LEDBETI'ER um 'gm k'ku x ATTORNEYS pnsr DEFLEGTOR William E. Lenhart, Jr., Beaumont, Tern, and Lonnie K.

Ledbetter, Riverton, Wyo., assignors. to Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of New Jersey Application, March 16, 1.953,.seha1 No. 342,518. 2 Claims. c1. 255-50 This invention relates to a dnstdeflcctorirfor use in. drilling operations, when air is useclto carry cuttings and dust up from a bore hole. in the earth during drilling thereof.

It has been the general practice, in drilling bore holes to pump a liquid or a mud; into the bore, hole through the drill stem and to thereby provide an upward flow of fluid around the drill stem by means or" which the cuttings. are carried out of the bore hole. More, recent-v ly, in certain types of country where the method is adapt.

able air has been employed to carry the cuttings. outof the bore hole. In these operations, compressed air is; forced downwardly through the drill stem and out, around the drill bit to provide aflow. of air upwardly out of the bore hole around, the. drill stem which. flow carries Withit cuttings and dust from the drilling operation.

in these drilling operations the dust which is blown up out of the bore hole must be collected to prevent it from becoming a hazard to both. the operators and the equipment engaged in the drilling operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide a deflector for the dust and cuttings being blown outof a bore hole, during this type of drilling oper ion y ean or which the dust and cuttings may be delivered to a suitable col: lector.

One of the problems in the construction of. a suitable dust deflector is to provide an adequate seal between the deflector and the drill stem and also to provide an adequate seal between the. deflector and the surface. (i The earth. As the. air under. pressure rises from the. bor hole, it seeks to escape into the. atmospher hrough. all) possible path and carries therewith considerable quan ities of dust which create the hazard noted above.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a dust deflector which includes an adequate seal between the deflector and the drill stem during rotation of the drill stem and which is of such a nature as to permit the drill stem to be lowered through the dust deflector during the drilling operation without either restricting the motion of the drill stem or being unduly worn away during the drilling operation.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation partly in section showing a bore hole and a drill stern positioned therein and a dust deflector in position with respect to the bore hole and the drill stem;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cut-away perspective showing of the dust deflector; and

Figure 3 is a top view of the dust deflector.

in Figure 1 there is shown a transverse section of the earth 2 in which there has been drilled a bore hole 4 by means of a drill stem 7 carrying a conventional drill bit 8. The upper end of the drill stem 7 includes a kelley 6 suspended from a conventional swivel head 10 which is supported by conventional hoisting means indicated at 12. Positioned around the kelley or the upper nited States Patent Patented Jan. 10, 1956 2 portion 6. o th drill s e n. adjacen t t s f e of th earth is he dust deflector assembly indicated ge eral y t; The con entio a means o o a ing h drill stem is not shown but is located above the dust deflector.

Th dus defle t r. assembly. n d s; a ba p ate 16 which is provided, with a central. opening 18 through which the drill stem. 6 may pass. Below the plate 16 ther are Provided vertically extending plates 20 which are. adapted to provide a seal betweenfthe surface of the earth and the base plate 16. The plates Zilmay be embedded in. the earth. as indicated at 22 or have the earth backed; up, thereagainst insure the provision of a. seal and to prevent air from escaping outwardly from the chamber between the plate 16 and the surface of the earth 2. The dust deflector also l es n. pper: plat 26. whi h s. pr v de it acentral opening; 28. through which. the drill stem d is adap e t pass Pla es. 30am. 34 j n he pper a d low r pl es .6v and 1. re pecti e y and a t Outer wall of an annular chamber surrounding the; drill stem.

6. Plates 34, 36 and 38 provide a take-off chamber opening'into the annular chamber surrounding the drill stern and join this annular chamber to an outlet passage which is formed by the plates diland .41.

A cylindrical member 44. is connected to and extends wnwa y r m th 199 Pl 2.6 n s alignm n h n n ng 2 ther in he. w r end of he cy ind c l em er 44 ermina s th its, ed pp mat ly midway between the upper and lower. plates of the dust deflector. An annularly formed channel member 4.6 is attached to and provides an annular:- Passage surrounding the cylindrical member 44. A plurality of bores 48 are provided through the cylindrical member 44 comrnunicati-ng with the space within the annular channel mem e 4 The b re 48 r i c in h a flo of air p si rom he pace th n he m m e 46 through the bores will flow inwardly and downwardly ih ll h thi ylind ica mber 4.4. ,An inlet, passage 50 f r c press ir is c nnec ed he annu a membe and. xten s ou wardly hrough he. outer Plate A on ent ona p pe wise 52 s p ac o op f ppe pla Z of. t e ust. defle t r and is pro id d wi h onvent onal. cente openi g. thr h W ich the dr stem s dap e to pass nd to e iped by t e Pip wip r.

Du ing he ril g uc ei- 1 pp y of c mpre sed air is admitted to the interior of the drill stem 6 through a suitable compressed air line as indicated at 54 which is connected to the swivel head 10 in a manner similar to that in which a supply of drilling mud would be delivered to the interior of the drill stem. The compressed air admitted through the supply line 54 passes clownwardly through the interior of the drill stem and out through the drill bit. The compressed air then passes upwardly around the drill stem and carries therewith cuttings and other materials which are to be removed from the bore hole during the drilling operation. These materials and the exhaust air are discharged through the outlet passage in the dust deflector into a suitable dust collector as indicated at 42.

It will be evident that during this operation the pressure within the annular space surrounding the drill stem between the upper and lower plates of the dust collector is above atmospheric pressure and thus the air carrying the dust and chips up from the bore hole seeks to escape through any possible means into the atmosphere. As noted above, the base plate 16 is sealed to the surface of the earth by means of the plates 20 and the only remaining space through which the dust laden air could escape is the space between the cylindrical member 44 and the bore 28 in the upper plate and the drill stem. The bores 48 in the cylindrical member 44 which are as indicated at 24 in orderto.

anadaas i inclined downwardly are supplied with compressed air" through the supply line 50 at a pressure sufficiently greater than the pressure existing in the annular spaces surrounding theydrill stem that the flow of air will'be downwardly through the cylindrical member 44 and thus the dust laden air is prevented from passing upwardly through the member 44.

In order that this seal be effective, it is necessary that reasonably close tolerances be maintained between the drill stem and the cylindrical member '44. On the other hand, too close a tolerance will, of course, produce wear between the cylindrical member 44 and the drill stem. The pipe wiper 52 serves to clean the drill stem as it passes into the cylindrical member 44 and thus foreign material is prevented from being carried into the limited annular space existing between the drill stem and the cylindrical member 44. The pipe wiper also serves to complete this seal in that, as the drill stem rotates and passes downwardly through the dust collector, the pipe wiper 52 is held firmly engaged upon the upper plate 26 of the dust collector and the wiper engages the drill stern in the conventional manner and provides the conventional seal therewith.

In some operations, it is desirable to employ water or other fluid instead of compressed air to provide the seal between the cylindrical member 44 and the drill stem. In these operations the water or other fluid is admitted through the supply pipe '50 into the channel member 46 and is introduced in the form of jets through the bores 48 into the space between the drill stem and the cylindrical member 44 thereby serving to completely seal that space as well as to provide, to some degree, a lubricant to prevent wear from occurring between the drill stem and the interior wall of the cylindrical member 44. v

It will be evident that this and other modifications may be made to the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A dust deflector adapted to be positioned over a bore hole in the earth to deflect material carried out of the bore hole by air delivered to the bore hole through a drill stem during drilling thereof, the deflector comprising rigid means for forming a chamber around a drill stem above the earth and in open communication with a bore hole, means for providing a seal between the lower portion of said chamber forming means and the earth surrounding the upper end of the bore hole,

4 means for providing a seal between the upper portion of said chamber forming means and the drill stem, said last mentioned sealing means including a sleeve rigidly connected to the upper portion of said chamber forming means and adapted to surround the drill stem, an annular array of bores through the sleeve extending generally inwardly and downwardly toward the drill stem, means for supplying fluid to the outer ends of said bores to produce generally inwardly and downwardly directed fluid jets emanating from said bores and impinging against the. drill stem, said two sealing means preventing escape of air from the chamber formed by said chamber forming means to'the atmosphere, and a discharge passage connected to said chamber forming means for discharging air carrying material out of the bore hole.

2. A dust deflector adapted to be positioned over a bore hole in the earth when air is employed for carrying dust and cuttings out of the bore hole during drilling thereof by means of a drill stem, the dust deflector comprising a base plate, an upper plate positioned above and spaced from the base plate, the base plate and the upper plate having aligning bores adapted to receive a drill stem passing downwardly therethrough into a bore hole, members extending downwardly from the base plate and surrounding the bore hole providing sealing engagement between the underside of the base plate and the earth, means extending between the upper and base plates providing a chamber between the plates surrounding the drill stem therebetween, a sleeve surrounding the drill stem and extending from the upper plate, an annular array of bores through the sleeve extending generally inwardly and downwardly toward the drill stem, means i for supplying fluid to the outer ends of said bores to produce generally inwardly and downwardly directed fluid jets emanating from said bores and impinging against the drill stem providing a seal between the sleeve and the drill stem, the two sealing means preventing escape of air from said chamber to the atmosphere, and a discharge passage connected to said chamber for discharging from said chamber dust and cuttings carried out of the bore hole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lobbert July 21, 1953 

2. A DUST DEFLECTOR ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED OVER A BORE HOLE IN THE EARTH WHEN AIR IS EMPLOYED FOR CARRYING DUST AND CUTTINGS OUT OF THE BORE HOLE DURING DRILLING THEREOF BY MEANS OF A DRILL STEM, THE DUST DEFLECTOR COMPRISING A BASE PLATE, AN UPPER PLATE POSITIONED ABOVE AND SPACED FROM THE BASE PLATE, THE BASE PLATE AND THE UPPER PLATE HAVING ALIGNING BORES ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A DRILL STEM PASSING DOWNWARDLY THERETHROUGH INTO A BORE HOLE, MEMBERS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE BASE PLATE AND SURROUNDING THE BORE HOLE PROVIDING SEALING ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE UNDERSIDE OF THE BASE PLATE AND THE EARTH, MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE UPPER AND BASE PLATES PROVIDING A CHAMBER BETWEEN THE PLATES SURROUNDING THE DRILL STEM THEREBETWEEN, A SLEEVE SURROUNDING THE DRILL STEM AND EXTENDING FROM THE UPPER PLATE, AN ANNULAR ARRAY OF BORES THROUGH THE SLEEVE EXTENDING GENERALLY INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE DRILL STEM, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING FLUID TO THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID BORES TO PRODUCE GENERALLY INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED FLUID JETS EMANATING FROM SAID BORES AND IMPINGING AGAINST THE DRILL STEM PROVIDING A SEAL BETWEEN THE SLEEVE AND THE DRILL STEM, THE TWO SEALING MEANS PREVENTING ESCAPE OF AIR FROM SAID CHAMBER TO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND A DISCHARGE PASSAGE CONNECTED TO SAID CHAMBER FOR DISCHARGING FROM SAID CHAMBER DUST AND CUTTINGS CARRIED OUT OF THE BORE HOLE. 